Donate to Eden in Iraq Project

Working through the Institute of Ecotechnics, a U.S. non-profit based in Santa Fe, NM, Meridel Rubenstein and Dr. Mark Nelson have been invited by Nature Iraq and its director Dr. Azzam Alwash, to participate in a major environmental project to re-green and re-inhabit the largest wetlands in the Middle East.

The Iraqi government, with aid from Italy and Nature Iraq, an organization created to protect, restore and preserve Iraq’s natural environment, is in the process of creating a small National Park in the Marshes. This park will be a symbol of regeneration in a war-torn land and will showcase sustainable regional architecture built with adobe and reeds, as well as our propsed wastewater garden, which is further detailed on the EDEN IN IRAQ page.

In Iraq in May 2011, with a local team from Nature Iraq, and in consultation with the local community, Nelson and Rubenstein evaluated several sites to plan how best to integrate the wastewater garden into the park. Meridel Rubenstein is collaborating as conceptual artist, designer, and cultural researcher to make the garden itself reflective of the area’s larger themes of creation, transformation, and rejuvenation.

We are seeking donations to realize the project. Donations will be made through Institute of Ecotechnics and are tax-deductible. Full details are available by request.